A YORK wildlife and conservation park is creating a weekly video blog from today during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Askham Bryan College’s Wildlife and Conservation Park is rolling out weekly vlogs on their youtube channel featuring animals from their park and lessons about the different species, behaviours and care for animals.

The series will debut today (Monday, April 20) with ‘What is a reptile?’ followed by episodes every Monday exploring amphibians, meeting some mammals and learning ‘All About Poo’, as well as a ‘Storytime at the Zoo’ segment where animal stories will be read in different animal enclosures. The vlog introduces the range of animals that reside at the Park and offers links to further learning activities for kids on the Park’s website and offered educational programmes in Animal Management at Askham Bryan College.

Caroline Howard, Askham Bryan Wildlife Park Manager, said: "At this time of year, we’d usually have lots of visitors and school groups coming in to learn all about our animals. During the lockdown we were looking for a way to still connect people to nature, especially now everyone is stuck inside. The wildlife park is a great way for us to develop the zoologists and conservationists of the future, and we’re hoping they’ll enjoy keeping in touch with our animals from home."

Jo Richards, Askham Bryan College Curriculum Director, Animal Management and Equine said: “With 50% of the UK owning a pet we are a nation of animal lovers; this makes working with them is an obvious career choice for many young people. There are over 300 recognised jobs in the animal and related industries and with growing environmental concern it is vitally important the next generation is ready with the science, practical and other transferrable skills they will need as future custodians of the natural world.”  

The series can be found at the Askham Bryan Wildlife Park YouTube page here.